Matt’s POV

“Come on, Shads, lighten up a little bit, it’s a fucking party for Christ’s sake!” Zack said, pushing a drink into my hands. I looked down at the cup and sighed. I had been doing everything in my power to stay away from this because I knew that there was a fine line between being okay and losing everything again. It was part of the reason why Gates and I took up working out everyday instead of partying. “Stop being a pussy and drink up.”

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the whiskey in my cup. Jimmy had been right, this party was getting huge and I could barely make out any of my band mates or crew in the sea of people. Baker and I were standing on the edge of the dance floor with Johnny and Matt Berry, scanning the crowd for any familiar faces. Only I didn’t see any. “Where the hell did Gates run off to?” I asked Matt over the music.

And if you asked me, this chick music was getting a little old. That is until the song changed and my heart dropped to my feet. Fuck, that was Maya’s favorite song. I remembered her singing it on the bus most of the summer and it always got stuck in my head. Fuck Matt, don’t go there. This is about fun, not thinking about the past.

“I don’t know, haven’t seen him since we came in,” MB shrugged, glancing around. “But don’t worry, Gates is a big boy and can handle himself. And maybe if he’s lucky he’s found a plaything for the night.”

“I don’t think so,” I scoffed, knowing that both Brian and I had sworn off other women until we found out where our girls were. Not that I could look at another girl without thinking about Maya – I learned that the hard way with DJ. It just wasn’t the same and pretty much sucked in comparison.

“Hey, check out the babe that Bruce is swinging around,” Johnny said, leaning over me and pointing toward the bar. I tried to glance that way but couldn’t see anything but dark hair. How was it that the short one could see but I couldn’t? That didn’t make any fucking sense!

“Oh, damn, what a luck son of a bitch. Wonder if that’s the new flavor of the week for him,” Zack chuckled but we all knew exactly what he meant. When we toured with those guys, Ben had a new girl every week. Almost like he had a line of them waiting for when he got bored with the pervious one. It was kind of sick.

“I don’t know,” MB shrugged. “I heard a rumor that he had settled down with a girl. I don’t know how true that is but that’s what I heard.”

“And look at her ink and that body, damn. She looks like your kind of girl, Shads,” Zack continued just as someone moved allowing me access to the view.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked over the crowd as they started to move across the room. The woman had shoulder length dark brown hair and wore a very short red dress that showed off her curves and ink. My eyes traveled down the length of her body when suddenly my breath hitched in my chest. I knew those tattoos. Those legs. That face. Fucking hell that was Maya!

Without even thinking, my anger switched turned on and I started right toward Bruce and Maya. How fucking dare he touch her like that or swing her around like his owe? She was my fucking girl and I was going to go put her right back were she fucking belonged. God I wanted to murder that son of a bitch!

“Shads where are you going?” My friends called after me but I couldn’t stop. I was storming toward them like an angry bull – I was fucking pissed.

As soon as I reached them, I grabbed Maya by the arm and pulled her towards me, earning a startled look from both of them. “What the hell?” Maya said but froze as soon as she saw me. “Matt?” God the sound of her voice was the best fucking sound I had ever heard. “W-What—“

“Can I help you?” Ben cut in, grabbing Maya and pulling her back into him. Oh, I didn’t fucking think so. “What the hell are you doing here anyway?” He glared at me with narrow eyes but I wasn’t afraid of him. I had a good couple inches on him in height not to mention that my biceps were the size of his fucking head even with his hair.

“I was fucking invited,” I shot back, narrowing my eyes. I reached out and pulled Maya back towards me. “And back the fuck off, she’s mine.”

“Yours?” Maya hissed, turning to look at me with an incredulous look. The shock that had been on her face a few moments ago was suddenly gone. “I’m not yours!” Maya snapped, pulling away from me. I felt like I had been slapped in the face by her words and the look on her face.

“Stop with the games, Maya,” I insisted, trying to pull her with me but she didn’t budge. To my horror she went back over into Ben’s arms. Was this some kind of sick joke the two of them were playing right now? If it was, I didn’t think it was very fucking funny.

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are coming into my house and ordering Maya around, but she’s not yours. She’s mine actually,” that bastard sneered and I was starting to see red. Oh he didn’t want to fuck with Matt Sanders because I would put on the ground with one hit.

“Yours?” I laughed cynically. “Okay, that’s funny. We can stop this fucking game now.”

“You’re the only one playing games, Shads,” Ben said with a cocky smirk on his face and I never wanted to hit someone more in my whole entire life. But I couldn’t do that just yet, I needed to talk to Maya. I had to find out what the hell was actually going on because this wasn’t funny. There was no way she didn’t have feelings for me and was now dating this asshat. “And I don’t know who invited you but I think you need to leave,” he said just as Zacky appeared by my side.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, looking between the three of us. Ben grimaced as he looked at us, knowing that if Zack and I were here, so were the others. “Maya?”

“Hi Zack,” she said with a small smile before looking back at me. “Please just go Matt, don’t start a scene please. This is my party…” Her party? She was living here in the UK? When the hell did that happen?

“Maya please, just talk to me for—“

“You heard the lady, she doesn’t want to talk to you,” Ben said and I took a step towards him. Oh, this bastard was going to get it. I was so livid, hurt, and confused right now that I couldn’t even think straight.

“I swear you are asking for—“

“All right, Shads, it’s time to go.” It was then that I felt Zack pull me back and away from Ben and Maya. And it was probably for the best because if I stood there for another minute watching him touch her I would have beat the living hell out of him. God I hated that guy and how could Maya do that to me. Fuck, I could tell by the look in her eyes when she saw me that we weren’t over. I refused to believe that and I just needed to talk to her. “What the fuck was that?” he asked as he dragged me back over toward the bar.

“I’m going to fucking kill him, that’s what that is,” I growled, taking in a deep breath. I knew I needed to calm down if I was going to talk to Maya but just seeing her with him really pissed me off. Was she doing this to get a rise out of me? Well, it was fucking working! “I swear if he fucking touches her I’ll-I’ll—“

“Okay, you need to chill the fuck out before you get us kicked out and that not going to you any good,” Zack said, pushing another drink into my hands. “Take a few deep breaths and calm down, maybe even go out for a smoke.”

I threw Baker a pointed look because he knew that I didn’t like that idea. I knew smoking wasn’t good for my voice but maybe he was right. It would help me calm down and come up with a plan. “Here.” He handed me his pack and the lighter. “Go take a smoke and cool down. I’ll see if I can finds someway to distract Ben so you can talk to Maya.”

God he was the best fucking friend a guy could ask for. “Thanks, Z.” I said as he pushed me toward the door.

Once I opened the door, the cool air tickled my skin, adding a reason for me to hate this weather. I couldn’t fucking wait to get back to Huntington Beach where it was warm all the time. Only three more weeks and I hoped that I would talk Maya with me. As I lit up and took a drag, a thought hit me. If Maya was here in the UK, that most likely meant that Avery was here with her. I wondered if Gates had found her in the crowd. I just hoped his reunion was better than mine.

Fuck I was still so fucking angry and hurt that Maya would be with Ben Bruce of all fucking people. How did they even end up together? The guy was a dick in every sense of the words and she could totally do better than him. I just had to convince her and remind her that I was the person for her.

Taking a in a long drag, I closed my eyes and recalled our time together. We were good for each other, there was no denying that. And damn it, I missed everything about her. The way she smelled, her soft skin, those long legs, her laugh, her smile, the stupid jokes she told, the way she laughed with Jimmy about nothing at all, and most of all those enchanting brown eyes. I loved her with every ounce of my being and I had to remind her of that because I knew she felt the same way. You couldn’t just throw a love like that away.

As I took in the last drag, I heard the side door open and shut. I slowly lifted my eyes to see the exact person I had been thinking about step onto the patio. She didn’t notice me standing in the shadows and she looked so beautiful in that light that I was losing my mind. Damn I missed her.

“Maya?” I said, stepping forward out of the shadows. She was alone and I knew I didn’t have much time before asshat would be back.

Those dark brown eyes snapped up to look at me with a mix of surprise, fear, and something else that I couldn’t read. I quickly put my hands up to stop her as she took a step back toward the door. “Wait please…just hear me out.”



Avery’s POV

I had a permanent smile plastered on my face as I waited for James at the bar. I just couldn’t believe that he put all this together for me. I mean everything was perfect. He had all my favorite foods, things to make great drinks, and the DJ was even playing one of my favorite songs. Had he really figured all that out in our time together? Did Maya know about this? Nah, she would have spilled a secret this big. She wasn’t that good at keeping juicy secrets from me. So that meant this party was all James and Ben’s doing. I had to admit that I was really shocked.

My smile slowly grew as I hummed the song and thought about everything that James had done for me since I met him. And in all honesty, he was too good to me and I knew I owed him a lot. I had to find someway to say thank you for all of this and maybe it was even time to take the next step with him. I had to admit that we were good together and the guy definitely knew how to make me smile.

I was finally content with my life again. Well, that is until an eerily familiar voice sounded behind me.

“How can a beautiful woman like you sit here all alone?” My breath hitched and my heart stop while every muscle in my body froze.

No. No, it couldn’t be….There was no way he was here. It had to be a coincidence. I mean, what would Brian be doing here anyway? This had to all be in my head, right? Come on Avery, get your shit together it’s not him. Oh but was I sadly mistaken.

As soon as I turned around, the two drinks in my hand crashed to the floor and I was left standing face-to-face with the man who had ruined me. I couldn’t breathe or move, let alone think as we stared at each other. My heart began to palpitate as I took in a shaky breath, his dark eyes locked on me.

“Ave?” Brian gasped, looking at me in complete shock. The sound of his deep melodic voice sent chills down my spine.

I took in a shaky breath as I opened and closed my mouth, gapping at him as I tried to find my voice through the shock. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was almost like I was seeing the ghost that haunted my thoughts and dreams for months. He looked just looked I remembered him, except his hair was a little longer and he looked incredibly buff. Damn he looked good.

As my eyes moved over his muscular build there was no denying who he was with those gorgeous brown eyes. “Brian…” I breathed, the name feeling foreign on my lips. It had been months since I uttered his name because I was afraid that I would crumble again.

When I said his name, Brian’s eyes stopped moving over my face and locked with mine. Suddenly it felt like we were the only two standing in the room and my heart pounded loudly in my chest. I couldn’t believe we were standing this close to each other after all this time—it felt surreal. Brian just kept staring into my eyes, his chocolate orbs full of a variety of emotions. “W-What are you doing here?” He finally asked, taking a step toward me, the glass cracking under his feet.

“I-I—“ I stammered but someone interrupted us. I was still in a complete state of shock and couldn’t register what was going on. This was all still some illusion in my mind.

“Ave? What happened? Is everything okay?” James asked, walking right past Brian and pulling me into his arms. He quickly kissed my lips and moved me away from the broken glass, looking me up and down and not even noticing the other person standing next to me.

I couldn’t breath as I looked back and forth between Brian and James. No this couldn’t be happening! I could see my life flashing before my eyes and I had no idea what to do. I nervously bit down on my bottom lip as James took my face into his hands, still fussing over me. I was fine with the glass but not with the person standing next to me. James looked down at me with a look of worry but I was too busy watching the angry expression building on Brian’s face to really notice.

“Look at me…what happened, babe?” Did Brian just growl? Oh shit…This wasn’t at all how I pictured tonight going…

I swallowed thickly as James slowly turned around and followed my gaze to Brian, my heart racing so fast that it felt like it was going to explode. James instantly stiffened and pulled me firmly into his side, glaring at Brian. I guess he didn’t expect him to be here either. “Gate,” he said curtly. “Can I help you?”

“What the fuck are you doing with—“ Brian started, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from James, his eyes narrow as he looked between us.

“Stop it, Brian!” I hissed, starting to get angry now. Who the hell did he think he was? I didn’t belong to him anymore. He was the one who threw what we had away. I ripped my arm away from Brian and glared at him. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Yeah my thoughts exactly,” James joined in and really wished he wasn’t standing here right now. The last thing I need was for those two to get in a fight.

Instead of answering the question, Brian took a step toward James, getting right up in his face. “Mind your own fucking business,” he growled before turning back to me. “Can I talk to you, alone,” he hissed, his eyes darting back over to James. He looked beyond pissed and I wasn’t far behind. How could he just come storming back in here, making demands? He had no fucking right!

“Whatever you have to say to her you can say in front of me,” James wasn’t backing down. Brian took another step towards him, getting in his face “Fuck off, Cassells and mind your own goddamn business!” Brian shot back before turning on me again.

“Come on, Ave.” Brian grabbed my arm again, his fingers gripping me hard. “You owe me some fucking answers.” And before James or I could protest, Brian was dragging me out the back door to the empty side patio. He slid the door shut and locked it, trapping me out here with him.

“Oww…fucking let go!” I snapped, finally pulling away from his ironclad grip. I frowned as I rubbed the red marks away on my forearm. Damn that hurt!

“You care to explain what the hell all that was?” Brian suddenly snapped, his fists clenched by his sides. He looked the most pissed off I had ever seen him and I didn’t know why. What did he finally get a taste of his own medicine seeing me with someone else?

“Explain what, Brian?” I shot back, crossing my arms over my chest. I looked everywhere but in his eyes because I knew I would my strength if I did that.

“Cut the bullshit, Ave,” Brian raged, his chest beginning to rise and fall with anger. “I’m sick of playing this fucking avoidance games with you. You better start fucking talking!”

I narrowed my eyes at him. How dare he say that this was my fault! He was the one fucking around behind my back so excuse me for not standing around and letting him do it. My heart raced as the anger built up inside of me.

Apparently my silence pissed him off more because he took a step toward me and growled, “I’ll ask you again. What the fuck was that?”

“Do you really want to go there, Brian?” I asked in a warning tone, still trying to keep my rising anger in check. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me. “Because I don’t think you really want to go down that path right now.” Hell, I didn’t want to talk about this right now. I didn’t want to talk about it ever. Didn’t he understand that we were fucking over and that it was entirely his fault?

Brian laughed skeptically and ran his fingers through his hair. “You owe me some fucking answers,” he raged, taking a step towards me. The distance between us was quickly closing and that was the last thing that I wanted. He knew my weaknesses and I wasn’t about to give in. He made this choice, not me! “Why the fuck are you avoiding me and—“

“Don’t,” I warned, moving away from him. I didn’t want to fucking talk about this!

“Don’t what? Talk about how you just fucking stopped talking to me out of the blue?! Or how I hear through someone else that you’ve moved on?! I’m so sick of all this bullshit!” he ran my hands over his face, a deep frown and crease between his brow becoming a permanent fixture. “Just tell me what the fuck is going on?”

I scoffed and shook my head. Did Brian really think that I was that stupid? He had messed around with other women, that’s what was going on! And hell, he was even doing it tonight with me, and he didn’t know it was me! I guess caring for me was an on-again off-again switch that he could turn on whenever the hell he pleased. How could I have been so stupid to think that he actually cared about me and wanted to be with me? It was all a fucking farce. “So now you fucking care?”

Brian’s jaw dropped and his brow furred as he gapped at me. “What? What the hell are you talking about?” Of course, Synyster Gates was never in the wrong. “I’ve always fucking cared about you!”

“No you haven’t!” I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes as I ran my hands angrily over my dress as he stepped towards me again. “You only care for me when it’s convenient for you, right? Like when I’m right next to you. But as soon as I’m gone you’re fucking messing around behind my back? God, I was so stupid to think that you would actually care about me. I was wrong, I know it now. Well, guess what, I’m done playing this game. It hurts too much! I’ve moved on!” I choked back a sob as I turned on my heels and headed towards the sliding glass door.

“Ave, wait!” Brain called after me, stopping me as I tried to fidget with the lock. “What the hell do you mean I don’t care for you? What you saw was all a big mistake and I can explain. I’m fucking sorry, okay?”

“Sorry? Fucking sorry, Brian?!” I basically screamed in his face, trying to get out of his reach. Only he wasn’t giving up so easily. “You’re honestly sorry? Well you know what, I’m fucking sorry too because that isn’t going to fix this. You cheated on me not once, but multiple times! Don’t think I didn’t see the tabloids!”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Brian frowned. “You know how those things they are! They twist every fucking angle. Yes, I did fuck up and kiss another woman but only because I—“

I scoffed and moved further away from him. “So you fucking admit it!” I raged, shaking my head. Hearing him admit his infidelity felt like someone shot me in the heart all over again. Why was it that he could hurt me over and over again? “And what about the twelve other women? Were they an accident too?”

Brian closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of his nose. Oh, was I upsetting him with the truth? Was poor little defenseless Avery not supposed to find out about that? Well, guess what? I wasn’t so little and defenseless and I certainly wasn’t an idiot.

“Ave—“

“No, you know what, Brian, I don’t want to fucking hear it. You made your bed and now it’s time to lay in it! You fucked up big time and I highly doubt there is anything you can say that will make this any better!” My chest was rising and falling as a few tears escaped from my eyes. Damn it, I didn’t want him to see me cry! Fuck!

“Will you just fucking let me talk for a minute!” Brian yelled over top of me as I continued. He ran his hands over his face as he took a step away from me. He looked like he was on the verge of losing his patience with me but I didn’t care. Now he knew how I felt.

“Okay, I’m listening, please, tell me how you didn’t cheat on me? Because the evidence seems pretty damn clear!” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the house, glaring at him. Oh, this was going to be good.

“I didn’t cheat on you,” he groaned in frustration. “I had too much to drink one night and I thought that girl was you, okay? I fucking missed you and I was lonely! And I only kissed her, that was it and only because I thought she was you. When I woke up I thought it was all a dream or I would have told you. I didn’t do it on purpose, you have to fucking believe me,” he yelled, his words coming out angry and frustrated.

I shook my head as a few tears rolled down my cheeks. When he finished a small smirk pulled at my lips. “That’s a great fucking line, Brian. It probably worked on the other girls, but I’m not buying.”

“It’s not a fucking lie!” Brian raged. “Come on, Ave why the hell would I go hook up with some slut when I have you? Do you really think I’d throw away what we had?
You are the only girl I ever fucking think about! Even after you haven’t returned my calls for six fucking months!” As much as I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t. There were still all those other pictures and articles about him being with a different girl every night. If he really cared, he wouldn’t have even kissed anyone in the first place. It was all one big line and I wasn’t going to give in.

“You hurt me, Brian...” I whispered. Unable to control my emotions anymore, the tears started to roll freely down my face. I was literally crushed all over again and my heart lay on the floor in a million pieces.

It wasn’t solely that Brian showed up and demanded that everything go back to the way it was that caused tonight’s anger, frustration, and new heartache. Oh, it had been building for months now. It killed me to watch him chase girl after girl right in front of my nose, especially since he promised that he would wait for me. Brian may have thought that he was cleaver and that I didn’t know what he was doing, but I wasn’t blind or stupid and either was the media. I mean, how many days did I wake up and see an article about him and some women, see pictures, or hear rumors of a new lover? Maybe I kept up some hope because I secretly hoped that the Brian I knew would return. He was so much better than this façade he was living and I knew that. But tonight all of his broken promise really pushed me to my breaking point.

“You have no idea how much...” I shook my head at Brian, a sigh escaping his lips. How could I love and hate someone so much at the same time? Or maybe the better question was; how could Brian do this to me? I never thought him capable of hurting me so badly, but I guess he was full of surprises. Maybe I didn’t know him at all, though I knew that wasn’t true. Hell, I knew thing about him that his best friends didn’t, like how he always slept on his right side or that he had a lucky pair of boxers.

The next thing I knew, Brian hugged me into his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. “I know, I never meant to though...” His voice was so soft that I almost didn’t recognize it, his warm breath saturating the top of my head. I closed my eyes into his chest, fighting the strong urge to hug him back. I knew that if I touched him anymore more that I wouldn’t be able to resist his charm. Come on Ave stay strong. “Please, please forgive me...”

Could I forgive him for what? Forgive him for lying to me, breaking his promises, or completely crushing me over the past six months? I took in a shaky breath, the pain in my chest making it hard to breath let alone think. This pain, this heartache, was more than anything I had ever experienced in my whole entire life—even more than everything he put me through before. I didn’t know how I would bounce back from this kind of agony and loss. I just knew that I couldn’t stay here another day, praying that he would come around and finally love me like I deserved. It hurt too much and I knew that deep down that I couldn’t forgive him for playing me that the way that he had.

Slowly I pulled away, my body shaking slightly as I tried to keep my nerve again. I had to be strong and I had to do this before I literally crumbled. I wiped the tears from my eyes and turned away. “I don’t think I can…”

I heard a thud behind me but I didn’t turn back around to look as I reached for the door handle. “Ave, please…” Brian was begging now, his tone shaking slightly. I stopped, and pinched my eyes shut as my lower lip quivered. I had never heard him sound so desperate or lost before. “I’m on my fucking knees. I’ll do anything please just give me another fucking chance!”

I wanted to believe him, I really did, but I didn’t know how much more my heart could take. I mean, it had already crumbled, so if I let him break those little pieces all over again, I would cease to exist. But I loved him, and I couldn’t deny that. Against my better judgment, I slowly turned back around to face him, shaking my head and fighting a new wave of tears that threatened to take over. "And why should I do that?"

“Because I love you, Ave."

Notes

So because you all asked so nicely here is the next chapter! :)

Oh, so Avery is not letting Brian off the hook so easily this time. Will she forgive him? What will happen with Matt and Maya? Will she stay and hear him out? Comments please!